Special Feature

Thank you, Willie

By Allen Greene, UB Director of Athletics

On Jan. 4, UB lost a legend. Willie Evans (EdB ’60),
standout football player, former UB Alumni Association (UBAA)
president, and teacher and coach with the Buffalo Public Schools
for more than 30 years, died at age 79. It is difficult to
encapsulate in words exactly what Willie meant to this
university.

Willie will forever be remembered for his skill on the
gridiron—he was a star running back for the Bulls in the late
1950s—and for his devotion to UB long after he received his
degree.

On the field, Willie was the Bulls’ leading rusher from
1957 to 1959. He was a pivotal figure on the 1958 team that won the
Lambert Cup, a trophy awarded to the best small school program in
the East. The Bulls had gone 8-1 that year and earned the
program’s first-ever bowl bid. They were going to play
Florida State in the Tangerine Bowl. There was a catch, though. The
organization hosting the bowl game prohibited interracial teams.
Willie and fellow African-American teammate Mike Wilson (BS
’59) weren’t welcome to play.

As a team, and without hesitation, the Bulls elected to turn
down the invitation, taking a stand against bigotry that set an
example for the entire nation. This was 1958, four years before
James Meredith would become the first black student to attend the
University of Mississippi—where I spent four years working in
athletic development prior to joining UB in 2012—and before
the height of the civil rights movement. Buffalo is forever
connected to that piece of history, and it’s something in
which we can take a tremendous amount of pride.

Evans as a UB football player.

As a person of color, I can’t help but try to put myself
in Willie’s shoes and think about what life was like for a
black man in America in the late 1950s. Willie was a fixture at UB
sporting events, and I never took my interactions with him lightly.
I cherished the opportunity to spend time with this man who
suffered for the benefit of people like me. The fact that he was
able to navigate through such a turbulent time in history gives me
the confidence that I can do the same.

Willie received numerous awards for his accomplishments over the
years. He and the 1958 football team received the Chancellor
Charles P. Norton Medal, UB’s highest honor, in 2009. He was
inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame that same
year.

As outstanding as he was on the football field, Willie left an
equally indelible mark on the UB community through his commitment
to the university, right up until his passing. He was a
longstanding board member of the UBAA, serving as president from
1981 to 1982. The Alumni Association renamed a scholarship in his
honor in 2009; the Willie R. Evans UB Alumni Association Legacy
Scholarship rewards incoming students who share the same principles
that Willie so strongly represented.

He was also a super fan. He and his wife, Bobbie, came to tons
of games, even more than I’ve attended. He was passionate
about UB, and he wanted to make sure that the legacy of that 1958
team lived on.

Rest assured, Willie, you and your teammates will remain an
integral part of UB. You are an inspiration to us all, and we are
forever grateful.